Police officers are expected to hold the highest morals when working. However, doing their duty to society may require going against various ethical ideals as long as the results are for the good of society. When police officers break the rules in their duty to society and the greater good, this is called noble-cause corruption. An excellent example of a noble-cause corruption situation is when police officers plant evidence on a known dangerous criminal so that they may apprehend them.
Different police departments leverage different strategies to mitigate ethical issues such as noble-cause corruption. Among these strategies are approaches such as comprehensive ethics staff training. According to Fortenbery (2015), frequent and consistent training is vital for developing ethical employees and leaders in an organization such as a police force. Continuous and regular education on legal and ethical obligations refreshes officers on the importance of due process and the negative impacts of crossing the line. In addition, noble-cause corruption can be mitigated by fostering a culture of open communication and reporting. Not only this, supervisors must lead by example by committing to the highest ethical conduct. Overall, police departments ought to promote moral decision-making while also connecting police officers’ actions to law enforcement’s core values.
Methods for Reducing Egoistic Corruption for Pecuniary Gain
An egoistic police officer’s action can result in twofold. On the one end, the officer may act in some way that positively impacts the society and makes them happy too (McCartney & Parent, n. d.). Conversely, an egoistic officer may act in some way that is only self-serving and only positively impacts them (McCartney & Parent, n. d.). This latter kind of egoistic police officer abuses the trust society places in them. They abuse their authority since their actions only serve them, not society or agency.
The above methods for mitigating noble-cause corruption can be leveraged to reduce egoism among police officers. Consistent officer training can minimize bias and ego when making on-duty decisions. More so, should departmental leaders uphold the highest moral standards at work, their subordinates will follow suit. Further, a culture of moral decision-making, community policing, and accountability will promote procedural justice and transparency and, as such, reduce officer egoistic actions with negative impacts on society.
Moreover, other strategies may also be integrated with the above. Police departments can leverage preventive strategies such as solid recruitment, vetting, and implementing concise decision-making protocols and guidelines. In addition to these are detection strategies, which include the development of safe channels for officers to report corruption without fear of retribution.
Why would the Above Methods Work?
The above strategies to mitigate corruption can work. Notably, the strategies address various facets of corruption, particularly making it difficult for corruption to occur if implemented. Frequent and consistent officer education and training on ethical issues can promote officers’ ethical behavior and moral decision-making. Good leadership across all cadres, together with officer community engagement, can lead to being accountable and building trusting relationships with community members. Furthermore, prevention and detection strategies reduce the likelihood that corruption will occur and increase the likelihood that it will be discovered and dealt with accordingly. In sum, a blend of all these strategies can result in a comprehensive and multi-layered defense against noble-cause and egoistic corruption.
References
Fortenbery, J. (2015). Developing Ethical Law Enforcement Leaders. A Plan of Action. Retrieved from https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/developing-ethical-law-enforcement-leaders-a-plan-of-action
McCartney, S. & Parent, R. (n. d.). Chapter 2: Ethical Systems. In Ethics in Law Enforcement.
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